Ice extent for most of this winter has been 20 to 30 percent above 1979 to 2000 average, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Bering Sea - 19 Mar 2012 - NASA image by Rob Simmon based on data from Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Mike Carlowicz, with image interpretation by Walt Meier and Ted Scambos, National Snow and Ice Data Center.
For most of the winter of 2011–2012, the Bering Sea has been choking with sea ice. Though ice obviously forms there every year, the cover has been unusually extensive this season. In fact, the past several months have included the second highest ice extent in the satellite record for the Bering Sea region, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
The natural-color image above shows the Bering Sea and the coasts of Alaska and northeastern Siberia on March 19, 2012. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. Black lines mark the coastlines, many of which have ice shelves or frozen bays extending beyond the land borders.
NSIDC data indicate that ice extent in the Bering Sea for most of this winter has been between 20 to 30 percent above the 1979 to 2000 average. February 2012 had the highest ice extent for the area since satellite records started. As of March 16, National Weather Service forecasters noted that all of the ice cover in the Bering Sea was first year ice, much of it new and thin—which is typical in the Bering Sea
The accumulation of ice this season has largely been fueled by persistent northerly winds blowing from the Arctic Ocean across the Bering Strait. The local winter weather has been dominated by low-pressure systems—with their counterclockwise circulation—that have brought extensive moisture up from the south to coastal and interior Alaska, while sending cold winds down across the sea to the west.
Those winds pushed Arctic sea ice toward the narrow, shallow strait, where it piled up and formed an ice arch that blocked the flow. As arches fail because of wind stress, large floes of sea ice can move south into the Bering Sea. Ice also has piled up on the north side of St. Lawrence Island, near the mouth of the strait.
South of the strait and the island, those same winds push cold air and cold surface waters to lower latitudes, allowing the ice to grow farther south than usual. The widespread and persistent ice cover in the Bering Sea has posed significant problems for fisherman and for supply ships in the region. The weather driving the ice also brought extreme snowfall events to many parts of Alaska this winter.
The Bering Sea stands in stark contrast to the rest of the Arctic ice cap, where sea ice extent was below average in both January and February. Ice cover was down drastically on the Atlantic Ocean side of the Arctic, including the Kara, Barents, and Laptev Seas, where air temperatures were 4 to 8 degrees Celsius (7 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit) above the norm.
References
- NASA Earth Observatory (2012, January 22) Sea Ice off Southwestern Alaska.
- National Snow and Ice Data Center (2012, March 6) February ice extent low in the Barents Sea, high in the Bering Sea.
Accessed March 19, 2012.
- National Weather Service, Anchorage Forecast Office Alaska Sea Ice Forecast. Accessed March 19, 2012.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77461
Thanks to Ron de Haan for this link
“Even the NASA proponents of CAGW alarmism can’t escape the reality of the day,” says Ron. “Satellite images don’t lie.”
14 Responses to Bering Sea – Second largest ice extent since 1979
SUNSPOTS
11 May - 4 sunspots
Credit: landscheidt.infoGood news! A publisher in Italy has now translated Not by Fire but by Ice into Italian.
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The PDO has gone cold but the AMO is still warm.
Maybe the Atlantic will recover when AMO goes cold?
The TNA
http://stateoftheocean.osmc.noaa.gov/sur/atl/tna.php
and TSA
http://stateoftheocean.osmc.noaa.gov/sur/atl/tsa.php
are negative, but the AMO is positive/zero,
http://stateoftheocean.osmc.noaa.gov/atm/amo.php
Why this difference between South and North for the same ocean? Is this related with the wandering of the N. magnetic pole?
The following map
http://deeptow.whoi.edu/images/fld2005c.jpg
shows that the Earth’s magnetic field in the S. Atlantic is considerably weaker than in the North.
A weaker field could mean more cloudiness and lower average temperatures?
Interestingly, that same “National Snow and Ice Data Center” was highly biased towards GW back in the early 2000′s. I remember when I kept track of iceagenow.com 10 years ago – I compared these reports to the National Snow and Ice Data Center – and they always insisted how all the ice was melting everywhere.
So if one takes into account this bias they once had, (and based on the assumption that this bias still might exist) one could conclude that overall ice extent is more than likely greater than 30 % above the long term average in that region. Looks like Iceagenow.com was correct all along ! Great job for keeping us posted on the real data.
And then to think that in Norway they news claims that the last 10 years where the warmest in history , some countries continue to put the GW lies to their population
No wonder as Norway putt billions of norwegian kroners into this climate myth.
If you want to tax the hell out of people without the complaining you have to tell them lies.
Yes, it has been a very mild March this year and outside today it was 21 C. Tomorrow and the next weeks it will drop. But I enjoyed the day.
Meteorologisk Institutt has made winter predictions or forecasts the last 4 years where they said that the mean temperatures next winter will be above normal. This year they got it right.
We know from historical sources covering the period from 1770 to 1800, that climate was very benign in Norway. Grain could be harvested far beyond the Arctic Circle, up to the county Troms.
About the propaganda machine from our national MSM, many people do not belive them any more, because of the second Guthenberg revolution. Hence the machine has mostly “an audience among the aunties in the home care institutions”.
The sensurship machine works mainly by omission, and when “gorian” articles show up, you read between the lines, as my mum said they were doing during WW2.
It looks like there is a chairman in the bridge club that is controlling all the information, in every aspect, that is siphoning through our national MSM.
Thanks to Robert, and many others, the climate issue can be discussed outside the box.
Well of course there is more ice. There is always an increase in ice, snow and cold as the World Heats Up. The opposite is true too. That is why I always run my Central A/C in the Winter. It keeps us nice and toasty warm. LoL
By the way … I saw an article today which claims that the fastest growing segment of population world wide is the 80 and over group (obviously a lie.)
I think they are again setting the stage for population reduction.
Watch and see if they don’t begin telling us that old people freezing to death is a humane and painless way to die …. “They just go to sleep and don’t wake up…” “With limited resources of energy, food, and medicine we have to allocate those resources to the most productive members of society. The elderly have had their day. Hypothermia is quick and painless.”
Ohhhh, just you wait and see what they have in store for US…!
Don’t believe it? Just remember 100 years ago just about anyone and everyone would have laughed in your face if you had told them that heating the earth will make more ice and snow… Today, there are a few million fanatical idiots ready and willing to stand as a witness that such is the case.
How long before those same millions attempt to throw the elderly out in the cold in order to “save the planet?”
Looks like the new grand solar minimum will teach NASA to tell “straight answers” after all
I know it does not seem logical that a “global warming” scenario would allow extreme cold winters and high ice concentrations but as the ice melts at the pole the cold air masses are allowed to move further south and cause what we would consider odd winter weather patterns and “below normal” temps. Now as we move towards a new ice age the actual global temp will probably drop. But sea levels are rising which means something is melting somewhere. I do not pretend to understand the whole climate change phenomena. But we shouldn’t become Al Gore Global Warming crazy but neither should we just pretend nothing is going on and that spewing tons of pollution into the air doesn’t have its consequences.
Do you know why it doesn’t seem logical? Because it isn’t.
As far as I’m concerned, the theory of man-made global warming is a lie.
It is also a lie that sea levels are rising. Satellite measurements show that sea levels declined – declined! – in both 2010 and 2011.
(See “Sea Level Continues Inexorable Decline” http://iceagenow.info/2011/09/sea-level-continues-inexorable-decline/ )
(See also: “Sea Levels Dropped in 2010” http://iceagenow.info/2011/08/sea-levels-dropped-2010/ )
Aw yes someone gives evidence that the seas have risen and others give evidence to say it has not. The same about the ice extent. The following article shows satellite photos of the ice having retreated substantially form March 2011 to September 2011:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/09/21/arctic-ice-at-second-lowest-extent-since-1979/
Is it true or just interpretation? I worry mostly that the 2 extremes make up their own junk science because they just want to make their personal beliefs known not actual science. I am not saying your article is correct or not but it is funny how everyone can contradict another person’s supposed science.
My initial reaction to the news that arctic sea ice showed a large decline from March 2011 to September 2011 is to wonder if that may have been due by something we non-science types commonly refer to as “summer”?
Of course, further analysis of the data would be necessary to demonstrate that for sure.
Perhaps you might want to read what this guy says about the climate bill and model, costs etc.
http://GlobalWarmingNotes.i8.com/
Also look up a guy called Lord Monkton who is doing his tour in the states as we speak.
Maybe the Arctic ice is just moving with the shifting poles…